PLANTS OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
25 
it invariably soon dies. I am satisfied 
that the soil does not suit it. 
ornamentae exotic trees. 
Adenanthera pavonina, Circassian 
Bean, is a pretty tree from India with 
delicate compound leaves and small 
brownish or yellowish flowers. These 
are followed by spiral pods with bril¬ 
liant red, polished, lenticular seeds. 
They are an article of food in India 
and are used extensively for necklaces. 
They may be strung readily with a heavy 
needle and thread or twine just as they 
are ripening, turning from cream color 
to scarlet. If strung too early they 
shrivel, but they soon begin to harden 
and cannot be worked at all. 
Acacia. Elegant trees with delicate 
compound foliage and often pretty heads 
of flowers, but unfortunately only a few 
of them do well here. A. bicornis or 
cornigera, from Mexico and Central 
America, which bears elongated heads of 
yellowish flowers and immense spines in 
pairs, united at the base and looking like 
the horns of an ox, does fairly well and 
pwo or three unnamed species flourish. 
Araucaria. A noble genus of warm 
temperate or subtropical conifers. A. 
excelsa is often grown in Dade County, 
though quite tender when young. This is 
the Norfolk Island pine, very commonly 
cultivated in pots and tubs at the north 
and when in perfect condition is one 
of the most strikingly beautiful trees in 
the world. It does fairly well here on 
pine land that is well drained, and oc¬ 
casionally there are seen remarkably 
handsome specimens. A. bidwillii from 
Australia is another noble species with 
broad leaves which seems to be com¬ 
pletely at home in our poor soil. A. 
imbricata has been tried repeatedly by 
myself and others, in shade and sunshine 
and in various soils, but it has invariably 
died. A. braziliana has failed with me. 
AlbizziaTebbek becomes a noble, wide 
spreading tree here in a very short time. 
Its common name “Woman’s Tongue” 
was given it because the pods of the 
one and the tongues of the other are sup¬ 
posed to rattle, a gross libel on both. 
Aleurites. Candle nut tree. A genus 
of trees of majestic appearance and large, 
striking leaves. A. moluccana has hand¬ 
some lobed leaves and bears an excellent 
edible nut. It has borne fruit in Dade 
County. A. trisperma has very large 
cordate leaves and is a beautiful tree. It 
is from China and is perfectly hardy. A. 
cordata is a fine hardy ornamental. All 
three flourish here, the only drawback 
being that their rather brittle limbs break 
up badly during hurricanes, and they 
should therefore be planted in sheltered 
locations. 
Andira inermis, West Indian Cabbage 
Tree, has elegant pinnate leaves with 
wavy leaflets and is said to bear hand¬ 
some purple flowers. It is a beautiful 
tree, but so far I have not been able to 
make it succeed as well as I would like to. 
Bauhinia. A large genus of tropical 
trees and shrubs generally having showy 
flowers. B. purpurea is one of our finest 
trees, being covered with large orchid¬ 
like blossoms in late winter and spring, 
most beautifully variegated. One of 
these trees in full bloom is a sight worth 
going a long way to see. B. alba and B. 
furfuracea have handsome white flowers, 
both blooming at various seasons. B. 
triandra has lovely pink flowers striped 
with white. B. tomentosa has yellow 
flowers. I have a large growing un¬ 
named species that bears a great pro¬ 
fusion of whitish blossoms tinted purple 
through the late fall and winter. The 
curious leaves of all the species which 
are more or less bifid at the apex are 
attractive. They all do well here in our 
light soil, but should be liberally fertil¬ 
ized for best results. 
Bombax. Silk Cotton tree. A soft 
wooded, rapid growing tree of the West 
Indian region, attaining immense pro¬ 
portions. It has digitate, deciduous 
leaves and the stems and trunk bear 
strong prickles. In late winter when 
the tree is nearly or quite naked it be¬ 
comes covered with very large showy 
red flowers. It does well in Dade 
County. At the Royal Poinciana Hotel 
at Palm Beach are very large specimens 
for Florida. 
Bischofia trifoliata from the East 
Indies is a rapid-growing tree with 
